Police arrested him at his home in Kingston, South West, after information from Yewtree was passed to them.

The alleged assault took place in ­Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Two days after his arrest, the Sunday Mirror revealed a "household TV name" had been questioned.

However, Tarbuck was not named until nine days later.

The decision to keep his arrest secret was made despite a top police publicist calling for celebrities arrested in child sex inquiries to be identified.

Andy Trotter, media chief for the ­Association of Chief Police Officers, said the move could encourage other potential victims of abuse to come forward.

And former Met chief Lord Blair has insisted it is in the interest of justice for suspects to be named as the publicity could help uncover vital evidence.

Scotland Yard staff are committed to interviewing every person who makes an allegation and teams of specially trained ­detectives are travelling the world talking to victims and witnesses to gather information.

The 69-strong team have been stretched to breaking point as people continue to come forward and Yard bosses are recruiting more officers.

A source said some ­allegations are so historic that they are unlikely to lead to charges, while others involve victims now living abroad who cannot be traced.

Police are also preparing to interview celebrity friends and ­associates of stars who have already been arrested or charged as they attempt to build cases for trial.

The pals will be asked to provide any information that could assist the police in corroborating the allegations.

Some of the historic sex abuse claims made by the many alleged victims date back to the 50s.

Operation Yewtree has three strands. One is looking specifically at the actions of ­paedophile Savile.

The second concerns allegations against “Savile and others”.

The third relates to alleged complaints against “others” – people unconnected to the probe into the Jim’ll Fix It star.